2018 RAPPAPORT STUDENT PRIZE COMPETITION

The Anthropology and Environment Society (AES) of the American Anthropological Association is pleased to announce the 2018 Rappaport Student Prize competition. To apply, interested graduate students are invited to submit an abstract by 18 March 2018 of a paper that you plan to develop into a publication. The abstract should present a summary of the entire paper, including a statement of the problem being investigated, methods undertaken, the results of the study, the theoretical context in which it is being evaluated, and the significance of the research. The abstract should not exceed 500 words; abstracts that exceed this word limit will not be reviewed.

All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by an expert panel consisting of officers of AES plus distinguished outside members, focusing on the originality of the research and analysis as well as the contribution to the field of environmental anthropology, and a maximum of five (5) will be selected for participation in the Rappaport prize panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, to be held this year on November 14-18 in San Jose, California.

The five semi-finalists will be invited to develop an article-length paper based on their abstracts, not exceeding a maximum of 8000 words, including notes and bibliography, to be submitted to the AES before October 1, 2018. All five semi-finalists will receive partial support for travel to the AAA meetings, where they will be expected to present their papers during the Rappaport Prize panel and participate in the panel discussion. These five papers will be reviewed by the same AES expert panel, judged for their originality, contribution to the field, and writing style appropriate to a journal manuscript for submission, and one will be selected for the 2016 Rappaport Student Prize, which consists of a $1000 cash award, to be announced at the AES Business Meeting which will be held during the AAA meetings.

The Rappaport Prize and Panel is part of an effort to improve the mentoring process for graduate students as they pursue AES related careers. Participating provides an opportunity for students to receive constructive feedback on their work by junior and senior scholars in the AES community. In addition to the feedback received during the panel presentations, one panel judge will be assigned to each semi-finalist, to provide detailed feedback and guidance on publication of their papers.

The deadline for the initial paper abstracts is 18 March 2018, to be e-mailed to the organizer of this year’s competition, Laura Ogden, at [email protected].